Your Tax Return May Be a Little Light + How to Make Your Money Go Further

It’s been a full year since Congress overhauled the tax code, and early federal tax filers have found refund checks to be about 8% lower on average, reports CNN. Refunds for 2018 so far averaged $1,865, compared with $2,035 for the 2017 tax year, according to IRS data.

For many, they will be missing out on money they were looking forward to getting a head start on this year financially. If you are one of those people how do you stretch your money? Stretching your money can be about a lot more than clipping coupons, though that shouldn’t be underestimated. The following are some tips on how to stretch your money:

Pay Down Debt

Of course the most obvious is to pay down debt. You are most likely paying through the nose on interest rates for your credit cards. Getting that debt paid off as soon as possible will not only free up more money every month, it will also mean that you don’t grossly overpay for the things you buy.

When you go out and buy a new product because you need it, and it is a bargain, it ends up being a lot less of a bargain when you pay 18% or even higher interest on that product for a year or more. That one-time “bargain” has now become something that you wasted money on.

Get to Know Generic Brands

Learn how to shop better. Depending on what store you shop at, most of the store brands are every bit as good as the national brands, but they cost a lot less. On occasion, you may find something that you don’t like so you don’t buy that one thing again, but the majority of items will be the same.

The only difference you will notice is the amount of money you start to save each week.

Make Your Car Run More Efficiently

To save money on gas make sure your car is tuned up, keep your tire pressure at the right amount and try to cut back on driving. Simple things that anyone can do. Plan your trips ahead of time and consolidate all your errands into one trip when possible.

The Bottom Line

Doing all these things will allow you to save money every month. You can probably save a few hundred dollars a month if you start making these simple changes. Then you can add that extra money to your minimum payments on your credit cards. Doing this will enable you to get out of debt sooner. You thought I was going to say shop online but nope… Get out of debt first!!!

Stretching your money is not that hard. It will require you to make some changes and maybe a few sacrifices here and there, but the relief you get from being in control of your finances will far outweigh any of the changes you have had to make.

Ash Exantus aka Ash Cash is one of the nation’s top personal finance experts. Dubbed as the Financial Motivator, he uses a culturally responsive approach in teaching financial literacy. He is the Head of Financial Education at BankMobile and Editor-in-Chief at Paradigm Money. The views and opinions expressed are those of Ash Cash and not the views of BankMobile and/or its affiliates.

Amazon has 30,000 Jobs they Need to Fill + How the Gig Economy is Making it Hard for Them to Fill

Amazon has more open jobs than ever before. The company is attempting to hire 30,000 permanent employees in the U.S. alone. The jobs are spread out across departments and at locations throughout the country. Filling them is an especially tall order in such a tight labor market, with unemployment hovering near a 50-year low. To get started, the tech and retail giant will hold job fairs on Sept. 17 in six cities: Arlington, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Nashville and Seattle.

Jobs may be so abundant because of the growth of the gig economy that allows people to work where they want doing what they want. Gig economy jobs continue to grow in popularity in the U.S., accounting for at least 5% of the workforce. So how do you fully take advantage? Moneyish.com recently wrote an article titled: The secret to making $115 an hour in the gig economy

In the article they give us 10 best fields for gig workers based on pay and job availability:

The first trend you might notice is that this list is dominated by tech jobs. Gavin Graham, the special projects editor for FitSmallBusiness.com, says this is because these types of jobs lend themselves well to the gig economy and are growing fields that pay well.

So what exactly do people in the no. 1-rated artificial
intelligence-deep learning field do? “They help develop “the technology
that drives the ability of artificial intelligence to ‘learn’ and
adapt,” says Graham. “Jobs in this field include developers who code the
underlying algorithms using tools and programming languages, such as
MATLAB, Python, Java, C++, Tensorflow, etc..,” he adds.

One possible surprise on the list: Instagram marketing. It lands on
the list because job growth has been very rapid, he explains. While many
companies have worked on Facebook and Twitter marketing, their
Instagram platforms are less developed — and in need of help.

Ariana Grande sues Forever 21 for $10 million + How to Protect Yourself From Those Trying to Steal Your Identity

In a complaint filed on Monday, megastar Ariana Grande said Forever 21 and Riley Rose misappropriated her name, image, likeness, and music, including employing a “strikingly similar” looking model, in a website and social media campaign early this year.

She said this followed the breakdown of talks for a joint marketing campaign because Forever 21 would not pay enough for “a celebrity of Ms. Grande’s stature,” whose longer-term endorsements generate millions of dollars in fees.

This is a classic case of identity theft and while we can’t sue identity thieves for $10 million dollars, there are some practical ways that we could put ourselves less in risk. Here are four ways to protect yourself:

1. Change your password – I know it can be annoying
to have to change your password or remember a new one, but it is
important that you stop hackers dead in their tracks. Change your
password regularly and make sure you include a variety of symbols, so
hackers have a tough time guessing what it is.

2. Create a different username and password –
Instead of using your Facebook login for all sites, create separate
usernames and password per site. This way the breach doesn’t come from
another third party, and you can better protect your account.

3. Set up two-factor authentication – Add another
layer of protection to your account. Two-factor authentication It is a
setting in Facebook where you can choose either text message codes or a
third-party authentication as your primary security method. This way you
know when someone is trying to do something fishy with your account.

4. Delete your personal info – The next time you log
onto Facebook, take the time to delete some of the more personal
information you have shared to reduce your risk of exposure in future
attacks.

SATs Keeps its Same Scoring Model + A Scoring Model You Better Undertand

The SATs are changing course following backlash over a plan to assign an adversity score to every student who takes the exam.The original adversity score was made up of ratings for the student’s school and neighborhood environments and was intended to capture the obstacles a student might have overcome. Critics said over-eager parents could use the score to game college admissions. Instead, the College Board will use a different system in an attempt to capture a test taker’s social and economic background. For many SAT scores can make the difference in so many lives but what other score affects your well-being?

Many people are
aware of the important role the credit rating plays in their lives.
However, understanding what goes into a credit score (the credit score
breakdown) might present some difficulty. There are several different
methods of scoring, but most lenders and banks rely on the FICO method
that has been in existence since the 1980s when it was developed by the
Fair Isaac Corporation. The three prominent credit bureaus (TransUnion,
Experian, and Equifax) all worked with Fair Isaac to come up with the
FICO algorithm.

Your credit score may be any number from 300 to 850. The average
American falls at about 690, which is deemed relatively good credit.
However, while this score should secure you a loan, it will not get you
the very best interest rates on loan. In fact, 300-640 = Bad Credit,
641-680 = Fair Credit, 681-720 = Good Credit, and 721-850 = Excellent
Credit. Excellent credit should be the aim.

Following is the credit score breakdown:

Payment History

The biggest chunk of your score (35%) is derived from your payment
history. This score is influenced by how well (or not) you pay your
bills on time, how many have been sent to collection agencies,
bankruptcies, tax liens, etc. Keep in mind that missing a payment is
worse than making a late payment and that being late or especially
missing a mortgage payment is a bigger blow to your credit score than
missing a credit card or utility payment.

Usage Ratio

The amount of debt you have (compared to the amount of credit you
have not used) accounts for 30 percent of your score. Try not to max
your credit cards out. In fact, it is recommended that you only use 25
to 50 of the credit that is available to you. A way to balance this out
is to obtain more lines of credit and not use them. However, you do not
want to apply for a bunch of credit cards all at once as this is marked
against you. If your credit is in good standing, apply for a reputable
card every six months or so and save it for a rainy day.

Length of Credit History

Fifteen percent of your credit score is based on how long you’ve
established credit. This is common sense. The longer your credit
history, the better your overall score will be. More data about your
past leads to a more accurate prediction of your future credit
worthiness.

Credit Mix

Having several types of credit will actually boost your score if they
are managed well. This counts for 10 percent of the overall rating.

New Credit

As mentioned earlier, opening new credit accounts all at once will
negatively affect your score in the short term. It’s also important that
you are aware that your score can be lowered for too many “hard
inquiries” about your status. A “hard inquiry” is one that you have
authorized a lender to perform. If you are inquiring about your own
score, this will not count against you.

Understanding what goes into the credit score breakdown is the first
step in improving your score and what will allow you to design your
score and begin you on the journey to financial freedom.